8 Women Dead at Indian State-Run Mass Sterilization Camp

Indian officials say at least eight women have died after undergoing sterilization surgery at a government-run health camp in the central state of Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh, India

Sonmani Borah, the commissioner for India’s Bilaspur district, said 24 of the more than 80 women who underwent the procedure on Saturday have been hospitalized.

He said the women were sent home after their surgeries, but some were later admitted to a hospital in Bilaspur after falling ill.

"Reports of a drop in pulse, vomiting and other ailments started pouring in on Monday from the women who underwent surgery," Borah said.

Ramanesh Murthy, the medical superintendent at Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Sciences, where some of the women were hospitalized, said the sterilization surgeries were minimally invasive, and should have taken less than five minutes.

Local governments in India often offer incentives to couples volunteering for sterilization to try to control the country's billion-plus population.

In this particular case, they were paid $10 each to undergo sterilization surgery in central India, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Authorities in eastern India came under fire last year after a news channel unearthed footage showing scores of women dumped unconscious in a field following a mass sterilization.